Chapter 27 - Yoram and Meir Part Ways

{Read the Hebrew original here}

Within the turbulence of events of the big war, also came a revolutionary change in the life of Meir, and his life path changed from the path of is friend Yoram. Up until Bar-Mitzvah age, they shared the same life path, namely, both studied Torah in the same class of the Talmud Torah (or T”T) “Etz – Chayim” ("Tree of life") and both spent their free time together in a great friendship. Yoram's life continued to flow and develop along the path that his parents planned for him – after one additional year in “Etz – Chayim,” he went to study in a regular high school, with the plan that once he finished high school, he would go on to study engineering at the Technion University in Haifa. For Meir, fate hit him at the young age of 13 and changed his life path – he was moving constantly from distant and different places, he participated in heroic operations that ended when he sacrificed his life, with supreme heroism, with a lot of nerve, on the nation's altar, at the very young age of 18. During this five-year period of intense activities, they still met together when Meir came to visit his house in Jerusalem [one of these meetings was described in the previous chapter]. Their friendship continued to be very strong as before, but their lives now progressed on completely different paths.

Meir’s new path in life started in the winter of 1940. That same year, R'¹ Eliezer Feinstein, Meir's father, became gravely sick with a terminal illness that took R' Eliezer to the grave within half a year. In spite of R' Eliezer's old age of 70, he continued to work until the end of his life. He continued to dedicate all his spare time to study the Torah and the Talmud, as he did throughout his life. Until he finally became bedridden, he woke up early every day to go to the synagogue for the morning prayers, and then he went to work until the evening. He walked in a youthful, straight posture with a smiling face, causing him to look significantly younger. When the illness began, he fought it, and continued to go to work whenever the pain subsided. However, his life upon this earth, which was a life of work and Torah without any exception, quickly came to an end. He barely managed to teach his youngest son, Meir, to place Tefilin and to celebrate Meir’s Bar Mitzvah. A short time after the Bar Mitzvah, R' Eliezer was hospitalized again, and then, on one cold night of the month of Tevet, while his sons, his daughter, and his wife Bella were standing around his bed, he took his last breath and his soul left his body. Throughout the time of his illness, and in spite of the great pain, R' Eliezer never complained, and even when he died, he was lying peacefully on his bed, and only one tear left his eye when his pure soul left his body and his gleaming face froze forever. Did R' Eliezer see at the moment his soul left his body the fate of his youngest and beloved son, Meir, and for that he let out that one tear? Only God knows.

A short time after the passing of his father, Meir decided to end his studies at the “Etz Chayim” Torah School and he went to work to help his family. Even though his mom, Bella, continued Eliezer’s business, with the help of his older brother, Binyamin, Meir felt that the business would not survive long without his late father. He also did not want his widowed mom to work beyond her power. Therefore, he started to work as a delivery boy for a local merchant, but not for long. The work did not satisfy him, and he left Jerusalem to the agricultural village Givatayim to work the land with a farmer. Although the work was very hard and required many hours from early morning until late evening, it seemed that Meir enjoyed the agricultural work. When he came for short visits to his family home in Jerusalem, his face looked very happy. In particular, Meir was so happy when he brought with him a half of a sack of potatoes that the farmer gave him as a gift for his family. The farmer treated Meir very well and fairly, and he gave him a room in his house, as if he was a member of the farmer’s own family.

A year passed by, and Meir started again to feel impatience in his heart. He heard about the expansion of the German armies over the entire European continent and over North Africa to the Egyptian border. The Nazi enemy started to come closer to the gates of Eretz Israel! By this time, his older brother, Binyamin, had already volunteered for the British Army. Meir heard about the organization of the combat units of the Palmach. Under this situation, he decided that he could not continue with his peaceful agricultural work, and that he must undergo military training. At first he moved to Kibutz Negba, and within a few months, he moved to Kibutz Givat HaShlosha near Petach Tikva. In Givat HaShlosha, he joined the Palmach, the commando unit of the Haganah organization.

Despite his very young age, Meir learned the military doctrine with lots of energy and ambition, and he was able to pass all of the physical and military training, including bare-hand wrestling, long-range swimming, long-distance traveling, land navigation and the study of various weapons. In one of the military courses he took on the use of hand grenades, his teacher was none other than Gideon Marinov, who, as told in the previous chapter, was one of the early Palmach commanders. Gideon’s main base was in Kibutz Ein-Charod, and from time to time, he was sent to other Palmach locations to train new members in the use of guns and other weapons. Gideon was very much impressed with Meir’s talent and his fast capture of new materials, and we read about this in one of Gideon’s letters to Yedidya:

“My dear Yedidya,

I am certain that you will be surprised to hear that today, while teaching new combatants of the Palmach, I met a young man, Meir, who is the best friend of your brother, Yoram. Despite his young age, Meir is a great person, very quick and shrewd. His tall body, his wise gaze and his self-confidence are quite impressive. From a conversation I had with him one evening after dinner, it became apparent to me how sharp and brave this young man is. It seems to me that the fact that he left his house at such a young age, after the death of his father, his agricultural work fortified his body and his spirit, and made him fearless. In my opinion, this young man is likely to do great and amazing things in the future. He talked about you with great admiration and told me how impressed he was by the conversation you had with our friends on Har-Htzofim (Mt. Scopious in Jerusalem), a few years ago. Of course, he did not remember all of the things you said at that time, but he did remember that your words instilled in his soul a strong love for and a great pride in the Jewish people, and about the urgent need to dedicate all our efforts for the rebirth of our people in our holy land of Israel. I have to mention though, that besides his optimism and enthusiasm, there is a hidden sadness expressed in his face, and it appears in his normally laughing eyes from time to time. I guess that this is the outcome of him becoming an orphan at a young age and the deep effect of his displacement from his home. However, the sadness is only temporary, and he tries hard to avoid it and to express his natural happiness, which is within his blood."

"I have extended my description of my interaction with Meir because he made a very strong and lasting impression. In addition, I would like to tell you that Musiya and I will be able to attend only our next meeting that is scheduled for two weeks from now. We are very busy in our Palmach activities, which takes most of our time so that we cannot take any vacation. Of course, we love our Palmach activities and do our work there with much happiness and enthusiasm. Kindly pass our warmest regards from Musia and me to Korin and all our friends.

With anticipation of our next meeting,
And with much friendship,

Gideon”.

As part of his service in the Palmach, Meir was sent for a short period to be a Noter² in Haifa. Throughout this period when Meir served in the Palmach and as a Noter, and when Meir came home to Jerusalem for short vacations, he did not speak much about his military activities. Only one time he talked about it with Binyamin and told him about all of the intense training he had in commando and partisan fighting. Even though he was very satisfied from his activities with the Palmach and the kibutz, it seemed that one aspect from the life in the kibutz was not to his liking. In one of his conversations with Binyamin, he said that he did not like the community bath in the kibutz…apparently, internally, he remained fond of his privacy values, on which he was raised from his early childhood.

Many months passed, until one bright day, in the month of February 1944, Meir arrived at home with a British Army uniform, and on his hat and shoulder was the insignia of the Royal Engineering, one of the corps of the British Army. When Binyamin asked him why he joined the British Army, Meir said that he felt the British Secret Service was following him because they suspected him to be a member of the Palmach, so he needed to join the British Army. Binyamin believed that this was only a partial reason, and the real reason was Meir’s wish to participate in the general efforts to destroy the Nazi animal, and to help the Yishuv in its fighting for independence, as will be seen in the events to come.

In order to be accepted into the British Army, Meir declared that he was 20 years old, although his true age was only 16. Falsifying his age, which enabled him to join the British Army, was a huge obstacle for him a few years later, when he was standing in a British Military court that convicted him of participation in a military operation of the Irgun against the British rule. Alas, this is the way of fate, and we, mere humans, cannot foresee what our own actions can do to ourselves…

During Meir’s first year of service in the British Army, he served on various military bases in the north and south of the land of Israel; and in the last part of the year, he was transferred to a British camp near the city of Beirut in Lebanon. That year – 1944 – was the year that the Jewish underground movements (the Irgun and Lehi) renewed their activities against the British, and in view of the British betrayal against the Jewish people that continued non-stop, the Irgun declared a revolt against the British rule. A pamphlet written by the Irgun³ said:

TO THE HEBREW NATION IN ZION!

We are in the last stage of the world war. Each and every nation is now conducting its national reckoning. What are its triumphs and what were its losses? What road must it take in order to achieve its goal and fulfill its mission? Who are its friends and who its enemies? Who is the true ally and who the traitor? And who is proceeding towards the decisive battle?

The Jewish people must also conduct a reckoning, review the past and draw conclusions for the future, because the past few years were the worst in our history, and the coming years – are the most important for our national future.

The facts are simple and horrible as one. Over the last four years of the war, we have lost millions of the best of our people; millions more are in danger of eradication. And The Land of Israel is closed off and quarantined because the British rule it, realizing the White Paper, and strives for the destruction of our people's last hope.

Sons of Israel, Hebrew youth!
We stand at the last stage of the war. We face a historic decision of our future destiny for many generations to come.

The truce proclaimed when war broke out has been violated by the British authorities. The rulers of the country have taken into account neither loyalties nor concessions nor sacrifice; they have continued to implement their aim: the liquidation of sovereign Zionism.

The White Paper is still in effect. It is enforced, despite the betrayal of the Arabs and the loyalty of the Jews; despite the mass enlisting to the British Army; despite the cease fire and the quiet in The Land of Israel; despite the massacre of masses of the Jewish people in Europe...

Four years have passed and all the hopes that were in your hearts since 1939 have vanished. We have not received an international standing; A Hebrew army was not established; The gates of the land of Israel were not opened to our fellow Jews. The British rule completed its total betrayal of the Jewish nation, and therefore, there is not any moral justification for its existence in Eretz Israel.

We must draw the necessary conclusions without wavering. There can no longer be a truce between the Hebrew nation and youth and the British administration of Eretz Israel, which is betraying our brethren to Hitler. Our nation will fight this regime, fight to the end.

This war will demand many hard sacrifices. But we will face this war with the recognition that we are faithful to our brothers. That were and are being slaughtered, because for their sake, we are fighting, and to their sacred will we keep our faith.

And these are our demands:
Rule over Eretz Israel must immediately be handed over to a provisional Hebrew government.
The Hebrew government of Eretz Israel, the sole legal representative of the Jewish people, must, immediately after its establishment, begin the implementation of the following principles:

a. Establish a national Hebrew army.
b. Conduct negotiations with all authorized bodies on the organization of the mass evacuation of European Jewery to Eretz Israel.

The God of Israel, God of Hosts, will be at our side. We will fight! Every Jew in our homeland will fight! There is no retreat. Liberty or death... The fighting youth will not recoil in the face of sacrifices and suffering, blood and torment. They will not surrender, so long as our days of old are not renewed, so long as our nation is not ensured a homeland, liberty, honor, bread, justice and law. And if you help them, then your own eyes will soon behold the return to Zion and the rebirth of Israel.
May God be with us and aid us!

THE IRGUN ZVAI LE'UMI IN ERETZ ISRAEL (ETZEL⁴)

After this revolt proclamation, the Irgun conducted many attacks against British government offices in Eretz Israel, including the British police offices in Jerusalem, Yaffo (Jaffa) and Haifa. The purpose of these attacks was to shock the British organizations and damage their properties. Many government buildings were destroyed and large quantities of weapons were confiscated and brought to the Irgun. On the other hand, the Lehi underground organization decided to hit the British themselves, and made several attempts to kill General McMichael, the British Supreme Commander in Palestine. McMichael was known as hostile to the Zionist movement and he was responsible for the deportation of ships full with Jewish Maapilim⁵, most notably the horrible Struma disaster⁶. However, the Lehi were unsuccessful and McMichael safely left the Eretz Israel back to the UK.

Then, in November 1944, came the assassination of Lord Moyne, the British minister for the Middle East, who was responsible for the closure of the land for Maapilim and the anti-Zionist policy of the British government. The assassination was well-planned by the Lehi, and it was conducted successfully near the Lord’s villa in Cairo, Egypt, by Lehi fighters Eliyahu Hakim and Eliyahu Bet-Zuri, who were sent from Israel for the operation. The Lord was killed by three bullets shot by Hakim, but the two fighters were captured during their departure from the assassination scene. During their trial in the Egyptian military court in Cairo, Eliyahu Bet-Zuri made an impressive and lengthy political speech, in which he described the British betrayal of the Jewish people. Among other things, he said:

"We do not recognize England's right to give us Palestine, or take it away from us. Let me make clear to the court: My ideas are not Zionist ideas. We don't fight to uphold the Balfour Declaration. We don't fight for the sake of the National Home. We fight for our freedom. In our country, a foreign power rules." and "Millions sank in the sea of blood and tears, but the British skipper did not lift them to the ship. And if a few of the survivors held on to the bow of the ship, he, the British skipper, pushed them back into the sea. And we in our homeland had no choice but to surrender or fight. We decided to fight.”

“The British want us to observe the law, but they are not subject to any law. In Jerusalem, a British policeman hits a Jew and leaves him dead in the street. Is this the law? In Tel-Aviv, a British policeman shoots in all directions without caring for the people. Is this the law? The British officer, Morton, goes into a house in Tel Aviv and kills Yair Stern while he was not armed, killing him intentionally (as he came to the house with an ambulance) – this is also the British “law”… In the British prisons in Israel, the British torture the Jewish freedom fighters that they capture – this is also the British “law”… “We understood that the only way to fight a ruler who bases its rule on violence is to use force against force.”

Hakim spoke only for ten minutes during the trial and said “The commandment “Do Not Kill” is a supreme law to us, but there was no other way to force the British to consider the rights of the Jewish people. Lord Moyne was guilty for the death of hundreds of thousands of Jews, the robbing of the Jewish homeland and confiscation of Jewish property, and when there is no justice, we decided to take justice in our own hands…” He also repeated Bet-Zuri’s demand that only the international court should judge them.

The Egyptian military court, that was strongly controlled and influenced by the British, refused their request for the international court, and was forced by the British to sentence the two men to death. It seems that a few of the Egyptian judges objected to the death sentence, but agreed to it only after it was promised to them that the sentence would later be converted to a less severe sentence. After only two months, it became apparent that the sentence would not be commuted, and on March 22, 1945, the two were hanged in Cairo, after they walked proudly to the gallows, singing Hatikvah, the Israeli anthem. This is how two more martyrs were added to the list of Jewish freedom fighters, who have sacrificed themselves for the salvation of the Jewish people. Their graves were close to each other in the Jewish cemetery of Cairo, and may the day come when their bodies be taken to their homeland⁷, for which they sacrificed themselves.

Meri learned of these activities of the Irgun and Lehi, and they influenced him immensely. When he moved from one post to another, he came to the unit were Amikam served. Although Amikam was an officer and Meir only a simple soldier, they knew each other and were good friends. In one of their conversations, Meir said to Amikam:

“You know, Amikam, I am not comfortable with myself when I hear about all the activities of the Irgun and Lehi fighters, while I am standing on the side doing nothing. Before I joined the British army, I was a member of the Palmach and went through major military training. Unfortunately, the Palmach is doing nothing against the British oppressive rule, except for its help for the Maapilim, and this help is definitely not enough. I would gladly join the Irgun and help them in the fight against the oppressive ruler, but unfortunately, I do not know how to contact the Irgun.”

Of course, Meir did not know that Amikam was a long-time member of the Irgun, and on the other hand, Amikam did not want to reveal this fact to Meir. This was a short period of time after the British expelled 251 underground freedom fighters and Jewish political prisoners to a concentration camp in Arithrea, and there were rumors that the Haganah members were informing on the Irgun members and commanders. Because of that, the Irgun members were instructed to be more careful and to keep their identity secret. Although Meir was known for many years to Amikam as an honest and great person, and as Yoram's best friend, Amikam did not want to take any responsibility in this case. Finally, he remembered something that gave him a great idea and he said to Meir:

“Dear Meir, I deeply appreciate your willingness to help our people to the best of your abilities. However, I cannot instruct you on how to do that at this time. However, I just had a great idea. There is going to be a dinner party this Shabbat at the parent's house of our friend Yaakov Silver in Haifa, for the birth of their grand-daughter. Yaakov’s wife, Shoshana, who is the sister of Yedidya and Yoram, gave birth two days ago to her first born daughter, and al of our members were invited – in addition to the family – to the celebration dinner. There will be a few members that you have not met yet. And of course, your best friend Yoram will be there with all the family. After dinner, we plan to have a meeting of all the members of our group at Yaakov’s house, in order to discuss an important issue. I suggest that you join me at the dinner party and afterwards, come to our meeting. It is possible that after the meeting, when we go back to our base, I might be able to give you good advice on how to materialize your wishes to join the Irgun.”

Meir, who was a smart lad, understood that he should not pressure Amikam for more details now, and if he invites him to a meeting, it is likely that he will benefit from it. He was also very happy to have an opportunity to see his friend Yoram again, since he had not seen him for a long time. He also wanted to share in the celebration of Yoram’s sister, Shoshana, whom he knew from early childhood during his visits at Yoram’s house. So, he gladly accepted Amikam’s invitation and asked him to tell him more about their mutual friends from Yedidya’s group, and also to learn more about the new members. A nice conversation developed, during which Amikam told him about the great happiness for him and his wife, Tamar, thanks to their lovely son Boaz, who was born three years ago and developed into a wonderful child. Tamar is likely to come to the dinner party in Haifa, leaving Boaz with her parents. Regarding Korin, Yedidya’s wife, she is a few months pregnant, and he is doubtful that she will come. However, it is likely that she will make every effort to come with Yedidya in her father’s car. It is hard to believe that she will miss her sister-in-law’s party, and she will do everything in her power to make it. This is regarding all of the members that Meir knows. Afterwards, Amikam gave Meir a brief summary about each and every one of the new members, starting with Arnon and Smadar and ending with Gideon and Musiya. When he talked about Gideon, Meir revealed to Amikam that he had already met Gideon, from the time he was in the Palmach, and that Gideon was his trainer for a short period of time in the use of hand grenades, as part of his Palmach training.

They continued to have a pleasant conversation between them for some time, and after they planned the exact time for their journey to Haifa, Meir went to sleep in his military tent, with great anticipation for the happy gatherings on Shabbat.

Notes for Chapter 27

1. R' - the Jewish honorific R’ is a short for Rabbi (pronounced "Reib"). It is used to formally address a regular orthodox Jewish gentleman, who is not an ordained Rabbi. A real Rabbi is addressed as "Rabbi." R' is essentially equivalent to "Mister" and this is how my father referred to his father in this book.
2. Noter - a guard protecting the Yishuv from attacks by Arabs. This guarding duty was an important part of the Palmach activities.
3. The Revolt Pamphlet - In his book "The Revolt - Story of the Irgun," Menachem Begin describes the political and strategic reasons for this lengthy declaration of the revolt against the British Rule. The printer, who was a Spheradic Jew, called this pamphlet printing job the "palabra" (just too many words), amusingly, somewhat offending Begin.
4. ETZEL - the Hebrew acronyms of the Irgun, meaning "National Military Organization in Eretz Israel."
5. Maapilim - Jewish migrants trying to reach Eretz Israel illegally before and after the Holocaust against the British unjust closure of the Land. There were approximately 100,000 Maapilim that tried to reach Eretz Israel by 142 voyages of 120 ships between 1934-1948.

6. The Struma disaster - On December 11, 1941, the ship Struma sailed from Constanţa carrying between 760 and 790 refugees. Three days later, it reached Istanbul, where Turkey detained it and its passengers for 10 weeks. On February 23, 1942, Turkish authorities towed the ship back into the Black Sea and cast it adrift. Early the next day, the Soviet submarine Shch-213 torpedoed and sank the ship. Between 767 and 791 people were killed, and there was only one survivor.
7. Bodies return to Israel - My father, at the time he wrote this novel, could not know that 27 years later, Yitzhak Shamir, who as their Lehi commander had dispatched the men on their mission, lobbied Yitzhak Rabin's Labor Government to obtain their bodies as part of an exchange of prisoners between Egypt and Israel after the Yom Kippur War. On June 25, 1975, Egypt duly gave their remains to Israel in exchange for 20-25 Arab prisoners of war who were held captive in Israel. The bodies were interred on Mount Herzl with full military honors. The Ministry of Education supplied all Israeli schools with brochures explaining their acts and its motives.